Saudi Arabia achieves record growth in international visitor spending reaching SAR 49.4 Billion in Q1 2025

Saudi Arabia has achieved record growth in international visitor spending during the first quarter of 2025, with a 9.7% increase compared to the same period in 2024. According to the travel account data in the balance of payments for May, total spending by inbound visitors reached approximately SAR 49.4 billion in Q1 2025, driving a travel account surplus of SAR 26.8 billion—a growth of 11.7% compared with Q1 2024. The Ministry of Tourism explained that the significant increase in the travel account surplus reflects the continued efforts by the Ministry and the Saudi Tourism Ecosystem to advance the tourism sector and strengthen its contribution to the national economy. This growth also underscores the rapid development of the Kingdom’s tourism industry. The sector’s impressive performance highlights the impactful steps taken by the Saudi Tourism Ecosystem that position the Kingdom as a global tourism leader. These include adopting best practices in tourism development, constantly improving services and offerings, and actively collaborating with all government entities to support the sector’s development and achieve the goals of Saudi Vision 2030.